Mumbai crime: Boyfriend arrested for HSC student's murder

A day after 19-year-old Rajni Verma was found murdered in Kalyan, cops nab her alleged beau Sarvesh Verma, who confesses he killed her after a fight

A day after the body of 19-year-old Rajni Rajkumar Verma was found in an isolated field near Hajimalang road in Kalyan, the cops acted swiftly, arresting the girl’s alleged boyfriend and charged him with murder. Rajni was scheduled to appear for the HSC exams from Friday.

Officers of the Kolshewadi police station with the accused Sarvesh Kumar Verma (centre) who killed Rajni Rajkumar Verma (inset) as she was allegedly asking him for money to undergo an abortion

According to officers of the Kolshewadi police station, the teenager was killed by 29-year-old Sarvesh Kumar Verma, who was having an affair with her. Cops quoted initial post mortem reports to suggest the teenager could have been pregnant. In his confession, Sarvesh said Rajni had been asking him for money to undergo an abortion, forcing him to kill her on Thursday.

According to the police officials Sarvesh strangulating the girl while stabbing her on her neck. “On Thursday, after meeting her tuition teacher on the eve of her exams, she had called Sarvesh and asked him to meet up. The accused carried a knife with him for the meeting, a clear indication that it was a pre-planned murder,” said an officer investigating the case.

When she did not return home on Thursday, Rajni’s parents lodged a missing complaint with the police station. On Friday, her body was found and identified through her ID card. “As we proceeded with the interrogations, we learnt about Sarvesh and called him to the police station on Friday. He had a cut on his finger and when we asked him about the wound, he couldn’t give us any appropriate answer. We cornered him and soon he confessed to the crime,” the officer added.

In his statement to the cops, Sarvesh claimed the two were in a relationship for the past four months. “The doctor who conducted the postmortem said that the girl was pregnant. We are still awaiting the post mortem reports for accurate details,” the officer said. The accused has been booked under Section 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping) and 201 (causing disappearance) of the Indian Penal Code.